A Monday night fire wrecked this home on Fort Leonard Wood just days before Christmas, causing about $200,000 damage to the house and its contents.

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Dec. 23, 2008) — A military family at Fort Leonard Wood lost their home and most of their belongings Monday night due to a fire about 7 p.m. that caused an estimated $200,000 damage to an on-post duplex.

The house near the Stonegate Community Center is one of the new homes built by Balfour-Beatty Communities and its predecessor company as part of an ongoing privatization project. Fort Leonard Wood spokesman Mike Alley said he didn’t have the precise construction date, but said the duplex is about two years old.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

No one was injured and everyone in the burned-out right side of the duplex was able to escape unharmed. The left half of the duplex, which was unoccupied, sustained significant smoke damage.

By Tuesday afternoon, the garage door of the burned-out side of the duplex had been boarded up and extensive fire damage was visible on the side of the upper story of the home. Military police guarded the home while housing maintenance personnel did work on the duplex.

The service member is an active-duty noncommissioned officer, but citing security considerations, Alley said the family’s name would not be released and he requested that the street on which the home is located not be published. Red Cross personnel have have already begun assisting the family, Alley said, and the family has been moved to an emergency home on post.

The St. Nick’s Benefit organization has arranged to make sure the family’s children have some Christmas presents since all their presents were destroyed by the fire.

Those interested in donating to the family may contact the Red Cross for additional details, Alley said.